FIRING

I fire in a two chambered, 130 cu ft kiln fueled with poplar, oak & maple strips which are salvaged from burn piles at a nearby sawmill. The pots are raw glazed & single fired for 18-20 hours to 2300° F or cone 9-10. The combination of wood flame & ash, which melts into the clay & glaze, can produce colors & surfaces reminiscent of objects found in nature. Like these objects, wood fired pots can look similar to each other but never identical. This unpredictability & variation makes every kiln load a new start.

The kiln, designed by Will Ruggles, was built in 1999 & holds around 400 pots. I preheat the pots & kiln with propane burners to 500° F, then the temperature is monitored & persuaded by wood stoke size, smoke color & density, flame color & pyrometric cones which melt at various temperatures. I fire three times a year.